Based on a Broadway play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, conservative Ruth Loomis (Jill Clayburgh) becomes the first woman to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, much to the dismay of liberal justice Dan Snow (Walter… MoreBased on a Broadway play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, conservative Ruth Loomis (Jill Clayburgh) becomes the first woman to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, much to the dismay of liberal justice Dan Snow (Walter Matthau). Oddly enough, the appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman justice of the Supreme Court occurred the same year that First Monday in October was released.